The Calico Cat

I am being haunted by a nicely plumptious tortoiseshell cat who loves bird watching. She was mentioned in dispatches before. She seems to know she is camoflaged but the sparrows and bluetits, robin and blackbird know she is lurking. She has taken to sitting in the doorstop position right under the bird feeders, dozing or looking up and making those bird noises moggies make when birds are near but out of reach. The trouble is they won’t feed while she is there. She has a very round face and a very pained expression whenever I appear. She will only run if I open the back door and step out. This morning the poor birds were waiting in the hawthorn for over half an hour. I went out to the chemist and then for a newpaper, and she was still there!!!!

Finally I chased her off and the birds started to feed almost immediately. After a while she started to make her way sneakily round the border. She got shooed off again, and peel from clementines was placed were she had rested. Next time I looked she was on the path next to where she had sat!!!!!!
I placed another row of peel in her second resting place. I might add that there is a working ‘cat scarer’ pointing down the path ha ha ha .
Shooed away again….. and later she was framed in the bushes on the other side of the garden, Gloating over the birds and glowering at me.
Today ,Sunday, she is having a rest, probably in her radiator hammock, after downing a plate of chicken….. it is cold and drizzly and the birds can get on with it till the sun comes out.

Here she is cosily tucked up and dozing and keeping the sparrows away from their breakfast

There she is framed in orchids, lurking in the slight sunshine. The birds are all in tree having a discussion about where else they can can go for breakfast. You can just glimpse the cat scarer bottom left of the worksop door.

Asleep ……and the poor old birdies can’t get breakfast and the robin can’t pick up his bits of fat from the starlings on the fat balls. Poor old blackbird can’t pick up titbits from the leaf litter. His favourite way of feeding

Now she is back. How cheeky can you get??!!!! My Grans tortoiseshell cats were always called Cheeky. They seemed to spend most of their time curled in front of the fire. Not sparrow boggling on a cold winters morn. Chased off again and more peel placed. I had at least one of my five a day.

After having her second bird watching station ‘contaminated’ she moved to the shelter of the bushes on the other side of the garden, but where she could feed her addiction from a distance; plus give me the the message that ‘this lady is not for turning’. A few minutes later she was observed veeery sneakily making her way through the herbaceous border……….

Comments

some one suggested to me that putting either a really prickly shrub or branches of holly may deter them -- make it very uncomfortable for her-- even in pots if you don't want to plant there , I'd be cross too as I love to watch the birds but you have to admire her persistance (altho when the pesky rabbits eat my plants Grrrr...

Although as a cat owner with a cat friendly garden and I love to feed the birds, I understand your frustration. I try to feed the cats indoors and at the same time feed the birds outside .This works canny in the winter but can be a struggle in the summer.As my worst offender Smokey went walkabout last year it may be safer now for the birds.So putting something crackly , noisy , or smelly where she sits could work . Does she have a home?she is a really bonny cat even though a pest.

My cats are obviously not scary enough - or too well fed! Dusty sits under the bird feeder and they take not a blind bit of notice - I have a pheasant who visits the garden each morning and just stares at Dusty until he is so intimidated he moves on LOL!

I own two cats who hide in the bushes and watch ..... but the birds will still come and feed however, there's a neighbouring cat who sits in full view and the birds won't come down from high in a cherry tree which is several feet away.

They'll watch until it wanders off and only then will come down and feed.

I feel so sorry for the birds, they can see their food but not 'get' to it so i go and chase it away whenver i see it.

It sounds like you will have to 'adopt' this cat, Dorjac! Then you can keep her indoors until the birds have had their fill before you let her out again. I love your description of her, she does look very plumptious :)